Nigerian and US forces have killed 175 Islamic State (IS) fighters in a series of joint airstrikes in northeastern Nigeria, the Nigerian Defence Headquarters announced on Tuesday. The operations, conducted in coordination with the US military's Africa Command (AFRICOM), also destroyed IS checkpoints, weapons caches, logistics hubs, military equipment, and financial networks used to sustain extremist activities in the region.
The strikes, which began over the weekend, claimed several senior figures. Most prominently, Abu Bilal al-Minuki — described by both Washington and Abuja as IS's global second-in-command and director of global operations — was killed at Metele, a border community in Borno State near Niger. Al-Minuki, also known as Abu-Mainok, was said to oversee IS media, financial operations, and the development of weapons, explosives and drones across the Sahel and West Africa. Also killed were Abd-al Wahhab, an ISWAP leader responsible for coordinating attacks and propaganda; Abu Musa al-Mangawi, a senior ISWAP member; and Abu al-Muthanna al-Muhajir, the group's senior media production manager and a close associate of al-Minuki. Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu thanked US President Donald Trump for his "leadership and unwavering support" and said he looked forward to "more decisive strikes against all terrorist enclaves across the nation."
Northeastern Nigeria, centred on Borno State near the Lake Chad basin, has been gripped by jihadist insurgency since 2009, when Boko Haram first emerged. The Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), a Boko Haram offshoot, has since taken the lead in the conflict. The United Nations estimates the violence has killed more than 40,000 people and displaced two million more. Recent months have seen an upsurge in attacks on villages, police stations, military bases, and civilian workers, prompting Tinubu to declare a nationwide state of emergency in 2025.
The scale of US involvement has notably deepened. Washington sent troops to Nigeria in February in an ostensibly advisory and training capacity, but the latest joint strikes suggest a considerably more active role. AFRICOM has separately intensified operations against IS and al-Shabaab in Somalia this year. According to the crisis monitoring group Armed Conflict Location & Event Data, Africa accounted for 86 percent of IS's global activity in the first quarter of 2026, reflecting the group's strategic pivot toward the continent following major setbacks in the Middle East.
Some questions have emerged domestically: several Nigerians noted that al-Minuki had previously been reported killed by Nigerian forces in 2024. The Defence Headquarters attributed the earlier report to the use of shared aliases among militants, while the presidency described it as a case of mistaken identity — contradictory explanations that have drawn scrutiny. The military has stressed that the latest operation inflicted damage that has "severely disrupted ISIS command, operational coordination and external attack networks," and that joint operations would continue.